In EV, battery and charging news are LG Energy, Einride, Tesla, Grounded, HEVO, APM Terminals, Orange EV, Blink Charging, Hyundai Motor, Shell, Genesis, IONNA, VinFast, Sila, Asahi Kasei, ComEd, Walmart and Aptera.
In this Article
LG Energy Begins 35GWh Lansing Battery Facility
LG Energy Solution has officially started production at its new 226-acre manufacturing facility in Lansing, Michigan, targeting an annual capacity exceeding 35GWh at full scale. Representing an investment of over $2 billion since 2022, the site will support domestic content mandates across automotive electrification and stationary grid infrastructure. The facility currently employs approximately 900 workers and is projected to expand its workforce to 1,700 at peak output.
The manufacturing operation features dual cell chemistries tailored for distinct sector requirements. The plant is producing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells integrated by LG Energy Solution Vertech for utility-scale energy storage systems (ESS) and industrial grid deployment, including projects with DTE Energy. Concurrently, the facility produces high-energy-density nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cells destined for Toyota’s forthcoming battery electric vehicles, specifically the 2027 Highlander EV assembled at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky.
The Lansing commissioning expands LG Energy Solution’s operational footprint alongside its Holland, Michigan site and Troy R&D center, bringing total state investment to over $5 billion since 2010. By late 2026, the company projects over 50GWh of North American LFP capacity across wholly owned and joint-venture sites, centering 80 percent of its global ESS manufacturing capacity within the region.
Einride Commits to 500 Tesla Semis
Freight mobility company Einride has announced an agreement to deploy 500 Tesla Semi Class 8 battery-electric trucks across key U.S. logistics corridors in California, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, and Georgia. Representing the largest commercial commitment to the Tesla Semi to date, deliveries are scheduled to commence in September 2026 and roll out in phases across a 24-month horizon. The deployment will expand Einride’s operating electric fleet from approximately 250 vehicles to 750 units, serving dedicated middle-mile routes for key shippers including Amazon.
The electric Class 8 heavy-duty vehicles will be managed and integrated via Saga, Einride’s proprietary fleet intelligence and dispatch platform that coordinates dynamic routing, state-of-charge windows, and Megacharger infrastructure utilization. Valued at an estimated $130 million to $145 million in hardware acquisition, the capital expenditure is structured through third-party vehicle financing mechanisms to support freight capacity conversion under joint business pipeline agreements.
Grounded Raises $5M
Detroit-based advanced mobility developer Grounded has closed a $5 million seed funding round and initiated production at a new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Detroit. The facility expansion increases the startup’s operational footprint and production capacity by 1,900 percent, supporting the industrialization of a new vehicle-agnostic modular box architecture engineered for both commercial battery-electric (BEV) and internal combustion engine (ICE) chassis platforms.
The capital injection will fund tooling, automated assembly lines, and ongoing R&D for Grounded’s software-defined, modular body systems. The proprietary hardware and software integration enables rapid, use-case-specific body configuration across Class 1 through Class 4 fleet chassis without requiring platform-level re-engineering. Telematics and connected onboard power management are orchestrated via Grounded’s cloud fleet operations layer, which facilitates continuous remote monitoring and predictive uptime management across commercial, healthcare, and municipal applications.
Grounded will ramp operations at the Detroit site throughout 2027 to fulfill enterprise fleet backlogs, expanding commercial deployments beyond custom electric recreational vehicles into high-density vocational fleet operations.
HEVO US Patent: Bidirectional In-Road EV Wireless Charging
HEVO Inc. has been granted U.S. Patent No. 12,700,758 B2 for dynamic roadway wireless power transfer systems, protecting infrastructure and embedded vehicle hardware designed to charge battery-electric vehicles while in motion. The intellectual property covers an array of roadway-embedded transmitter pads that continuously transfer energy to vehicle-mounted receiver coils during transit, bypassing discrete stationary charging stops to improve fleet utilization and reduce onboard pack sizing requirements.
The patented architecture integrates bidirectional power flow capabilities, enabling dynamic vehicle-to-grid (V2G) power discharge back into wayside electrical systems or roadside energy storage units. The claims also encompass layered pad construction—incorporating magnetic shielding, power electronics, cabling, and thermal management—as well as inter-pad wireless energy transfer between adjacent units and integration with centralized roadside power inverters, mobile charging depots, and buffer battery systems.
Filed in October 2022 with priority dating to 2021, the dynamic charging patent expands HEVO’s intellectual property portfolio beyond its stationary Rezonant magnetic resonance hardware and Journey fleet management platform. The framework targets high-duty-cycle commercial fleets, transit corridors, and autonomous vehicle ecosystems requiring automated, continuous energy replenishment.
APM Terminals Elizabeth: 96 Orange EV Electric Terminal Tractors
APM Terminals Elizabeth has contracted Orange EV for 96 heavy-duty electric yard tractors to accelerate terminal electrification at the Port of New York and New Jersey. Manufactured in Kansas City under Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) compliance, the HUSK-e XP units integrate a 310-kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery architecture and support a gross combined weight rating of up to 180,000 lbs for container-handling cycles.
The East Coast deployment follows fleet scaling at APM Terminals Pier 400 in Los Angeles, which transitioned from an initial 20-truck pilot to a 60-unit deployment. Asset procurement prioritized total cost of ownership, service response metrics, and fleet availability over initial unit cost, leveraging Orange EV’s validated operational data encompassing over 2,000 deployed commercial EVs and a 97% average uptime baseline across 33 million service miles.
Blink Charging Co. has introduced EnergyConnect, an AI-driven energy management system (EMS) engineered to optimize power distribution and reduce operating expenses across electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) deployments. The cloud-based platform automates dynamic load balancing and peak demand management, enabling site operators to enforce scheduled capacity limits and maximize charger throughput without requiring costly grid interconnect or utility transformer upgrades.
The initial deployment encompasses 13 Blink-owned DC fast-charging (DCFC) locations in Florida, with phased rollouts planned across operational footprints in the United States, United Kingdom, and Belgium. Future development phases will incorporate demand response protocol integration, utility-side interoperability, and coordinated management of on-site distributed energy resources (DERs), including solar photovoltaic arrays and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Hyundai Motor and Shell Renew Through 2031
Hyundai Motor Company and Shell Lubricants have extended their Global Business Cooperation Agreement for five years through 2031, expanding a 20-year strategic partnership established in 2005. The renewed agreement pivots beyond conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) aftersales lubricants to prioritize joint research and development in dedicated battery electric vehicle (BEV) e-fluids, immersion and direct thermal management chemistries, and specialized coolants.
Under the terms of the extension, Shell remains Hyundai’s recommended global aftersales lubricant supplier while continuing technical partnerships across high-performance applications. The co-engineering scope encompasses the Hyundai N Division’s electrified powertrain platforms and the supply of specialized fluids and cooling solutions for Genesis Magma Racing’s GMR-001 Hypercar program in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) to accelerate commercial fluid development under severe operational duty cycles.
Hyundai & Genesis EV IONNA Fast-Charging Discounts via Plug & Charge
Hyundai Motor America has introduced an automated 10 percent DC fast-charging discount across the IONNA network for eligible Hyundai and Genesis electric vehicles. Accessible via the MyHyundai with Bluelink telematics application and ISO 15118-compliant Plug & Charge authentication, the tariff reduction automatically applies to active charging sessions without manual validation codes. IONNA is stacking an additional 10 percent promotional concession through September 30, 2026, delivering a cumulative 20 percent discount during the introductory period.
Hardware and software compatibility requirements mandate onboard In-App Charging integration or native Plug & Charge architecture. Supported nameplates include the 2022 and newer Hyundai Ioniq 5, 2025 and newer Ioniq 5 N, 2026 and newer Ioniq 9, 2025 and newer Kona Electric, alongside the 2026 and newer Genesis GV60 and Electrified GV70. The initiative marks the initial automaker-specific commercial benefit deployed across the multi-OEM charging joint venture, with further rollout scheduled for subsequent model years.
VinFast Shows EV Total Cost of Ownership Tool
VinFast has integrated an interactive Energy Cost Saving (ECS) calculator into its U.S. digital retail platform to provide comparative total cost of ownership (TCO) modeling between battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and internal combustion engine (ICE) alternatives. The web-based tool calculates dynamic operating expenditures based on user-defined ownership timeframes and monthly mileage inputs, addressing consumer tendencies to discount long-term fuel and maintenance savings against initial acquisition costs.
According to OEM projections, a VinFast VF 8 Eco driven 2,000 miles monthly over a five-year cycle incurs approximately $7,811 in energy expenses, compared to $18,528 for an equivalent ICE SUV—representing a 58 percent reduction in operational energy spend. The deployment supports the retail positioning of VinFast’s North American product portfolio, which includes the D-segment VF 8 and E-segment VF 9 SUVs, utilizing lifecycle operating data to reduce consumer friction during the electric powertrain transition.
Sila ISO 9001:2015 Quality Cert Moses Lake Silicon Anode Plant
Advanced battery materials developer Sila has obtained ISO 9001:2015 quality management certification for its gigascale manufacturing plant in Moses Lake, Washington. The standard validates the facility’s quality management systems (QMS), automated recipe controls, and end-to-end material traceability as the plant transitions into commercial production of its proprietary Titan Silicon silicon-carbon (Si/C) composite anodes. The Moses Lake site complements Sila’s Alameda, California pilot operations, which achieved ISO 9001 compliance in 2022.
The certification establishes the baseline for Sila’s ongoing pursuit of automotive-grade IATF 16949 compliance to support electric vehicle OEM integration alongside NDAA-compliant defense, aerospace, and robotics applications. The operational milestone follows a recent conditional loan commitment of up to $1.4 billion from the U.S. Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) to expand domestic Si/C anode throughput and downstream lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing capacity.
Asahi Kasei Lithium Carbonate Pre-Doping
Asahi Kasei has engineered a lithium pre-doping method designed to counteract irreversible first-cycle capacity loss in high-voltage, silicon-rich lithium-ion batteries. The process incorporates low-cost lithium carbonate directly into the cathode formulation alongside proprietary electrolyte additives that catalyze chemical decomposition at standard operating voltages, supplying supplemental active lithium without requiring specialized equipment or major modifications to existing cell assembly lines.
In validation testing with nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cells utilizing a 90 percent graphite and 10 percent silicon monoxide (SiO) composite anode, the pre-doping chemistry delivered a 10 percent gain in volumetric energy density while extending overall cycle life and reducing cost per watt-hour. The Japanese chemical supplier plans to commercialize the intellectual property via licensing frameworks and proof-of-concept partnerships under its Technology-value Business Creation initiative, targeting 10 new license agreements through fiscal 2027.
ComEd EV Ambassadors & Rebates Drive Fleet EVs in N. IL
Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) highlighted the progress of its EV Ambassador Program and fleet rebate offerings during a showcase with small-business owners and community leaders at Steps Inc. Consulting in Chicago. The initiative targets barriers to commercial electric vehicle adoption by providing technical guidance, site electrification assessments, and utility incentives for charging infrastructure and vehicle acquisition.
Under the framework of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), ComEd has distributed over $52.5 million in total rebates across northern Illinois in 2026 alone through its Business and Public Sector EV Purchase, Residential EV Charger, and Make-Ready programs. Year-to-date metrics include funding for more than 4,600 charging ports and incentives for 565 commercial fleet vehicles, with 99% of EV Rebate Program funding directed toward low-income and Equity Investment Eligible Communities.
Walmart 100th Fast-Charging Site in Monument, CO
Walmart has energized its 100th proprietary electric vehicle fast-charging installation at a Supercenter in Monument, Colorado, expanding its company-owned and operated charging footprint to 100 locations across 20 states. The deployment marks an ongoing effort to build a dedicated retail charging infrastructure integrated directly into its customer-facing operations.
The charging hubs are configured with 8 to 16 DC fast-charging stalls capable of delivering power levels up to 400 kW. Hardware configurations support dual-standard connectivity via Combined Charging System (CCS) and North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors. Charging management, session initiation, and payment processing are handled through the Walmart mobile application, with discounted billing tiers offered to Walmart+ subscribers.
Aptera Partners & Launch Design: $44 Million Tooling & Subassembly Program
Aptera Motors has entered a strategic manufacturing partnership with Shanghai-based Launch Design valued at up to $44 million (RMB 300 million) to supply tooling, assembly fixtures, vehicle testing, and pilot production. Targeting an initial run of 40 production solar electric vehicles in Q4 2026, the agreement integrates Launch Design’s tier-supplier network to deliver fully finished subassemblies directly to Aptera’s Carlsbad, California final assembly plant rather than unintegrated component kits.
Under the agreement terms, Aptera will settle two-thirds of approved program expenses in cash, with the remaining one-third—capped at approximately $15 million—paid via equity purchase warrants. The collaboration is structured to optimize the solar EV startup’s bill of materials (BOM) and unit economics during validation stages while establishing high-volume manufacturing readiness for broader international market deployment.
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